Thought I’d add some clarity to a comment I saw in the media today, so I whipped up a quick email.
It was sent to: melissa.mcintosh.mp@aph.gov.au
Dear Mrs Melissa McIntosh MP,
I would like to thank you for your comments today in the ABC article “State and territory disability ministers lash federal government’s NDIS changes” (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-11/state-and-territories-lash-ndis-changes/106785788).
In particular, can I draw your attention to where you said:”Coalition NDIS spokesperson Melissa McIntosh said it would be “unacceptable” if any people with disability were caught between systems.”
For myself, and many people with a disability, this is not an if, but a current reality. We are already stuck between systems. The NDIS Bill as proposed will not create a new situation, it will add more people to an existing situation.
I have tried multiple times to get non NDIS supports. State and local governments have failed me, and the NDIS routinely rejects people with my disabilities, claiming they are only “health conditions”, as if that magically means they don’t disable those living with the condition(s).
The NDIS Bill as proposed is just going to condemn people to the life I live, one of unsupported disability, where I face choices non disabled Australians would never have to face. Most people can’t even comprehend the choices we have to make to get through a day. And we have to do this every day, knowing there are no supports for us.
I hope that as Coalition NDIS spokesperson that your party is working to not only make sure the Bill does not pass, but that voices of people with a disability are always centred in decisions that impact our lives.
Thanking you in advance for whatever you can do to stop the NDIS Bill.
Kind Regards,
Vanessa Smith
